Shipping and display container and blanks for forming such a container



Mamh 1965 M. H. GRABOSKY ETAL 3,172,530

SHIPPING AND DISPLAY CONTAINER AND BLANKS FOR FORMING SUCH A CONTAINER Filed May 23, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS I MARVIN H. GRABOSKY ALAN BERGER 8 RICHARD A. DE FEO la WWW ATTORNEYS March 1965 M. H. GRABOSKY ETAL 3,172,530

SHIPPING AND DISPLAY CONTAINER AND BLANKS FOR FORMING SUCH A CONTAINER Flled May 23, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 5.

INVENTORS MARVIN H. GRABOSKY ALAN BERGER 8 RICHARD A. DE FEO BY 3 um Hwvwu ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,172,530 SHIPPING AND DISPLAY CQNTAINER AND BLANKS FOR FORMING SUEH A QONTAR Marvin H. Grahosky, Philadelphia, Pa., Alan Berger,

Laurelton, N.Y., and Richard A. De Feo, Ardmore,

Pa., assignors to llayuk Cigars Incorporated, Philadelphia, Pa, a corporation of Maryland Filed May 23, 1963, Ser. No. 282,633 8 Claims. (Cl. 206-4511) This invention pertains generally to containers for the display of merchandise including blanks from which such containers may be assembled, such as by folding.

The invention pertains more particularly to containers for the display of elongated merchandise, such as cigars, either individually, grouped or in packaged units, uprightly, and in receding tier arrangement, the container being in hinged sections, thus affording wide versatility in attractive display adaptions for sales promotion purposes.

The invention embraces within its refinements a combination of parts including encasements, and blanks from which they are made, for encasing the above-mentioned display containers with merchandise in place to provide a container combination or package for the safe keeping of such merchandise during shipping or other handling and/or storage.

Other features of the invention will be made apparent as the specification proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a blank from which a display container of the invention may be assembled by folding;

FIGURE 2 is a plan View of a blank from which an encasement for a display container may be assembled by folding;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a display container with merchandise in place, and of an encasement therefor in removed position;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of an assembled combination container or package in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a display container showing merchandise in one display position;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a display container showing merchandise in another display position;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a display container showing merchandise in a still further display position;

FIGURE 8 is a view partly in section taken on line 8-8 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 9 is a view partly in section taken on line 9-9 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 10 is a sectional view taken on line Il)ll0 of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 11 is a sectional view taken on line 11-41 of FIGURE 4.

Referring to FIGURE 1, container blank 10 may be formed, such as by cutting or stamping, from any suitable sheet material such as that available in the paper industry, including heavy paper stock, cardboard, fiberboard and the like. The various types of plastic sheeting available in the trade also are quite suitable.

The contour of blank 19 is shown in full lines, and for convenience in description, the lines along which blank 19 is to be folded are shown either in spaced dash lines or dot and dash lines. A full line between blank parts indicates a severance of parts along such line.

Any suitable means available in the art may be employed to facilitate folding or to fold blank 10 along the lines so indicated. Scoring is usually very con- "ice venient to facilitate folding, say crease scoring on relatively lighter weight stock, and cut scoring on relatively heavier weight stock that is stock not given to ready bending. Sharp bending is frequently facilitated by cutting through the stock along the line of the fold at spaced intervals, preferably with the end cuts removed from the opposite edges of the blank. A preference for the latter type of cutting is indicated on blank 10 where spaced dash lines appear.

Referring now more particularly to blank 10, at 11 and 12 are shown rear panels hinged along line 13, such as by scoring, spaced out scoring through the stock being particularly suitable for the purpose as will hereinafter appear.

Panel 11 is provided with flap 14 and panel 12 with flap 15, said flaps being hinged to their respective panels along their upper edges indicated by lines 16 and 17 respectively.

For purpose of convenience and brevity in description and in the claims the terms hinged, hinging and their equivalents, indicate that the blank or stock is capable of angular movement along the line indicated, irrespective of the means by which such is facilitated whether by scoring or otherwise.

Hinged to rear panel 11 at its side indicated by line 18 is side panel 21 having an outwardly and downwardly sloping upper edge 22, and a bottom tongue 23 hinged thereto along line 24.

Side panel 21 has hinged thereto at its side indicated by line 25 outer front panel 26.

Outer bottom panel 27 is hinged to front panel 26 along line 23, and is provided with a flap 31 hinged thereto at its lower edge along line 32.

Outer front panel 26 at its upper edge has hinged thereto along line 33 inner front panel 34 which preferably is of dimensions similar to that of panel 26.

Panel 34 has hinged thereto at its upper edge, i.e. along line 35, inner bottom panel 36 which in turn has hinged thereto, along its side edges defined by lines 37 and 38, triangular wings 41 and 42, respectively.

Side panel 43 having an outwardly and upwardly sloping upper edge 44 is hinged to outer front panel 26 along side line 45, and has a bottom tongue 46 hinged thereto along line 47. Side panel 43, along its outer side edge indicated by line 48, has hinged thereto a flange 51.

It will be noted that the foregoing particular description of blank It] relates to its left half as seen in FIG- URE 1, that is, the portion to the left of line 13. It will also be noted that in the particular embodiment of blank 10, as illustrated in FIGURE 1, the right half is symmetrical with the left half. In other words, if the right half were bent upwardly about line 13 and brought down onto the left half, their contours would match, at least within practical approximation. Such symmetry contributes outstanding to the preferred embodiment of the invention, even though not strictly essential, for similarity in shape, though not in dimensions, is within the broad scope of the invention.

Turning now to the particular description of the right half of blank 10, as shown, hinged to rear panel 12 along side line 52 is side panel 53 having an outwardly and downwardly sloping upper edge 54, and a bottom tongue 55 hinged thereto along line 56.

Side panel 53 has hinged thereto along side line 57 outer front panel 58.

Outer bottom panel 61 is hinged to front panel 58 along its bottom edge indicated by line 62, and bottom panel 61 is provided with a flap 63 hinged thereto at its lower edge along line 64.

Outer front panel 58 at its upper edge has hinged thereto along line 65 inner front panel 66 which preferably is of dimensions similar to that of panel 58.

Panel 66 has hinged thereto, along its upper edge, defined by line 67, inner bottom panel 68 which in turn has hingedthereto, along its side edges, defined by lines 71 and 72, triangular wings 73 and 74 respectively.

Side panel 75 having an outwardly and upwardly sloping upper edge 76 is hinged to outer front panel 58 along side line 77, and has a bottom tongue 78 hinged thereto along line 81. Side panel 75, along its outer side edge indicated byline 82, has hinged thereto a flange 83.

It is preferred that the hinging along lines 32 and 64 stop short of the opposite sideedges of flaps 31 and 63 respectively and that these flaps be severed or slit a short distance inwardly from their opposite side edges along lines 84 positioned slightly outwardly from and generally parallel to and opposite to imagined extensions of the ends of lines 32 and 64 respectively; also that tongues 23, 46, 55 and '7 8 be provided on their inner edges with outwardly extending small projections as indicated at 85, the purposes of which will hereinafter appear,

The order of assembly of blank 10 is not particularly critical and is subject to considerable variation, one such order being now particularly described for purposes of illustration.

Referring more particularly to the left half of blank it) as seen in FIGURE 1, flap 51 is bent upwardly along line 48 to a position at a right angle to side panel 43; side panel 43 is bent upwardly along line 45 to a position at a right angle to front panel 26; front panel 26 is bent upwardly along line 25 to a position at a right angle to side panel 21; and finally side panel 21 is bent upwardly to a position at a right angle to rear panel 11.

Considering the position of the parts as seen in FIG- URE 1, this brings the rear face of flange 51 against the front face of rear panel 11 adjacent line 13, whereupon flange 51 is secured to panel 11 by any desired means, for example by any suitable adhesive, glue, cement or the like, the preferred position of flange 51 being shown in dotted lines at 86.

Flap 14 is now bent forward and down against the front face of panel 11.

Tongues 23 and 46 are bent inwardly underneath the enclosure resulting from the manipulation of the preceding paragraphs (upwardly at right angles to their respec tive side panels as seen in the flat in FIGURE 1 and along lines 24 and 47 respectively); flange 31 is bent upwardly along line 32 as seen in the flat in FIGURE 1 (actually backwardly relative to the above-mentioned enclosure); and outer bottom panel 27 is bent upwardly along line 28 as seen in the flat in FIGURE 1 (actually backwardly relative to the above-mentioned enclosure). During the last step of this manipulation flap 31 is slipped upwardly between the now rear edges of tongues 23 and 46 and the front, or now inner, face of rear panel 11, to close the bottom of the above-mentioned enclosure; f slits 84and projections 85 are present, the latter projections enter the aforementioned slits to afford additional securing means for holding outer bottom panel 27 in place.

The rear surface of outer front panel 26 as seen in FF- URE 1 is now the front surface of said above-mentioned enclosure. Considering panels 34 and 36 in such position, panel 36 is bent along line 35 toward the operator, and wings 41 and 42 away from the operator to positions at right angles to panel 36 (panel 36 away from the operator and wings 41 and 42 toward the operator as these parts are seen in FIGURE 1). With panel 36 and wings 41 and 42 in such position, inner front panel 34 is pushed downwardly about line 33 into the above-mentioned enclosure and brought into contact with the inner surface of outer front panel 26. Inner bottom panel 36 (with its wings 41 and 42 pointing downwardly) is now pushed down and assumes an angular position as clearly seen in FIGURE 8 in view of its side wings 41 and 42, wing 41, in view of the sectional representation being shown.

Preferably wings 41 and 42 are so dimentioned in relation to the particular design so that their respective bottom edges when in assembled position touch tongues 46 and 23 respectively at the same time or slightly prior to any touching of the upper assembled edge of panel 36 on a the inner wall of panel 11 among other things for purposes of rigidity and strength. The right angular free edge configuration of wings 41 and 42'atfords a snug fit, if desired, against the adjacent inner vertically positioned parts, notching to accommodate flap 31 being optional.

The display of merchandise in tier arrangement is magnified by dimensioning Wings 41 and 42 so as to bring the upper surface of panel 36 at least within practical approximation into a position parallel to upper edges 22 and 44 of side panels 21 and 43, respectively.

The right half of blank 11; may be assembled in all respects similar to the left half beginning with flange 83 and proceeding from right to left in sequence instead of from left to right as has already been described in detail with respect to the left half of blank 10, ending up with the rear surface of flange 83 as positioned in FIGURE 1 being applied and secured to the front surface of rear panel 12 (as seen in FIGURE 1) adjacent line 13 in a position, for example, as illustrated in dotted lines at 87.

In various figures of the drawings, the'display of merchandise (cigars) is illustrated, e.g. fully encased in flat rectangular packs as at 91, and with the upper portion of the pack removed as at 92, the packs fitting snugly within the container for outstanding attractive display of merchandise, which attractive display continues throughout the successive sales of the articles,.whether in packs or individually. Thus the packs or merchandise holders may have closed tops as at 91 or-open tops as at 92, in either case with a preference given to similar height, particularly in the case of closed top packs which are then held in position during handling by the inner top panel of the encasement to be hereinafter described. The same applies to merchandise, if of similar height, held by the open top merchandise holders.

Also the various figures of the drawings illustrate the versatility of the multi-section package of the invention from a display standpoint, with sections side by side being shown in FIGURE 5, with sections at an angle in FIG- URE 6, and with sections back to back in FIGURE 7. Hinging at line 13 bycutting through the stock at spaced intervals is highly preferred, since this provides a hinge having operating characteristics similar to those of the well-known piano type hinge. For ease in assembly, similar hinging may be employed along lines 35 and 67.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, at 1110 is shown a blank from which encasements for the above described containers are made, the sources of sheet material being similar.

The same as in the case of blank 10, the contour of blank is shown in full lines, with a full line between blank parts indicating a severance of such parts along such line. Also lines along which blank 1% is to be folded are shown either in spaced dash lines, or dot and dash lines. Scoring for hinging purposes may be in all respects similar. 7

Front panel 101 and rear panel 102 are joined by side panel 103, hinging to panel 101 being along side line 104, and hinging to panel 102 being along side line 106.

Front panel 101 on its edge opposite line 104 is provided with flange 107 hinged thereto alongside line 108.

Front panel 101 has hinged thereto along line 111 at its top inner front panel 112 whichin turn has hinged thereto along line v113 inner top panel 114. Panel 114 is provided on opposite side edges with triangular win-gs 115 and 116 hinged thereto along lines 117 and 118 respectively.

Rear panel 102 on its side edge opposite line 106 has hinged thereto along line 121 side panel 122, and at its top it has hinged thereto along line 123 outer top panel 124, the latter being provided with flap 125 hinged to panel 124 along line 126.

Side panel 103 is provided at its top with tongue 127 hinged thereto along line 128 and side panel 122 is provided at its top with tongue 131 hinged thereto along line 132.

Blank 100 may be assembled in any desired order, of which the following is an illustration.

Flange 107 is bent downwardly, that is away from the viewer, along line 108 to form a right angle relative to panel 101. Side panel 122 is bent downwardly along line 121 at a right angle to rear panel 102. Rear panel 102 is bent downwardly along line 106 at a right angle to side panel 103. Side panel 103 is bent downwardly along line 104 at a right angle to front panel 101.

Such folding tcauses side panel 122 to overlap flange 107 which is secured to the inner surface of panel 122 by any suitable means, such as an adhesive, along the unhinged side edge of the latter in an. area indicated in dotted lines at 133 in FIGURE 1, and in dotted and full lines in FIGURE 11.

Tongues 127 and 131 are now bent inwardly into the enclosure thus formed and into contact with the inner surface of their respective side panels.

Inner top panel 114 is now bent upwardly along line 113, that is toward the viewer, and triangular wings 115 and 116 are bent forwardly toward the viewer along lines 117 and 118 respectively to positions at right angles to panel 114.

Inner front panel 112 is now bent downwardly into the enclosure, carrying panel 114 and wings 115 and 116 with it, to bring panel 112 into contact with the inner surface of front panel 101. The result is that panel 114 assumes an angular position as shown in FIGURES and 11, which position, when the merchandise to be exhibited is of uniform height, is preferably at least within practical approximation parallel to the angular position of inner bottom panels 36 and 68, and the distance between said panels just sufficient to accommodate such merchandise, which by this means is safely held in place during all manner of handling.

As the result of the above-mentioned folding, panel 102 is at the rear of the enclosure thus formed. To close the top thereof, flap 125 is bent forward along line 126 to a position at a right angle to top panel 124, and top panel 124 along line 123 to a position at a right angle to rear panel 102. During such folding, flap 125 is brought down in contact with the inner surface of panel 112 to complete closing the top of the encasement.

Wings 115 and 116 are preferably so dimensioned relative to other parts such that their respective edges 119 assume a position flush with the top of side panels 103 and 122 respectively, and such that their respective edges 120 touch the inner surface of panel 101 (enclosing the ends of panel 112), when the encasement is fully assembled, the purpose being to hold panel 114 securely in position during handling of the assembled package with merchandise in position.

The bottom edges 131 and 132 of panels 101 and 102 respectively may take an angular shape as illustrated, sloping upwardly from the sides toward the center, to provide a convenient means for engaging the bottom edge of the encasement with the fingers for easy removal from the container portion of the package when assembled, the position of the parts being illustrated in FIGURE 4.

Thus a container for merchandise is provided in which upright side panels extend forwardly from their respective upright rea panels, the upper edges of said side panels sloping downwardly away from their respective rear panels over a portion of their respective heights, with an upright front panel connecting the fronts of the side panels on each rear panel. Two merchandise holding sections are provided which preferably are symmetrical in shape, and which are hinged together along adjacent upright edges of their respective rear panels. Each con- 6 tainer section is provided with an inne bottom panel which slopes downwardly from its rear panel toward its front panel, and preferably has edges contiguous to, that is adjacent or close to, the inner walls of the respective upright panels, among other things for contributing to holding the section to its intended shape, means being provided for supporting said inner panel in angular position. The bottom panel of each container section preferably has edges contiguous to, that is adjacent or close to, the lower edges of the upright panels of said section. Moreover, a preference is given to a configuration wherein the horizontal cross-section of each section is rectangular (which term includes square) with front and rear heights adjusted for good display consideration being given to the maximum dimension of the goods, e.g. cigars, and/ or with the upper surface of the inner bottom panel more or less, eg. for practical purposes, parallel to the upper side edges of the side panels. Furthermore, preference is given to a configuration for a single encasement for the dual sections wherein the inner sides thereof afford a close sliding fit about the dual sections, and wherein an inner upper panel is provided having a downwardly sloping inner or lower surface more or less parallel, e.g. for practical purposes, to the upper surfaces of the inner bottom panels of the respective sections, and spaced therefrom hardly more than just sufficient to accommodate merchandise of more or less uniform height among other things for holding said merchandise in place during handling, said spacing being afforded by any suitable means, such as by having a bottom edge or edges on the encasement flush with the bottoms of the sections when the combination package is assembled.

Having particularly described an embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that this is by way of illustration and not of limitation, for modifications can be made without departing from the spirit thereof. Thus, if desired, the bottom portion of blank 10 below lines 47, 28, 24, 56, 62 and 81 may be dispensed with, leaving the bottom of blank 10 a straight line as a modification of the embodiment illustrated. A container assembled from such modification, e.g. with the cementing of the wings on each inner bottom panel to the inner surface of its adjacent side panel, would still have bottom edges which for practical purposes would fall in a single plane, or in other words, adapt the container for resting on a flat surface whether or not having a bottom strictly planar. This latter modification makes possible a still further embodiment wherein the bottom edge of a modified blank 10 has a configuration adapted the container to rest on a surface other than flat as will be readily seen.

Thus it will be seen that changes, omissions, additions, substitutions and/or other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly it is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression in the claims, the various features of patentable novelty that reside in the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A blank for assembly into a merchandise container comprising dual rectangular rear panels hinged together along a score line defining adjacent side edges, each said rear panel having a side panel hinged thereto on its opposite side edge, each said side panel having an upper edge sloping downwardly in outward direction and a rectangular outer front panel hinged thereto on its outer side edge, each said outer front panel having a second side panel hinged thereto on its opposite side edge, each said second side panel having an upper edge sloping upwardly in outward direction, a flange hinged on each said second side panel on its outer side edge, a rectangular outer bottom panel hinged to the bottom edge of each said outer front panel, a rectangular inner front panel hinged to the upper edge of each said outer front panel, an inner bottom panel hinged to the upper edge of each said inner front panel, and triangular wings on opposite side edges of each said inner bottom panel.

2. The blank of claim 1 wherein the bottom edges of each of the rear panels, side panels and outer front panels fallwithin at least practical approximation on a single straight line.

3. The blank of claim 2 wherein each side panel has a tongue hinged to its bottom edge.

4. The blank of claim 3 wherein each outer bottom panel has a flap hinged to its bottom edge.

5. The blank of claim 4 wherein each rear panel has a flap hinged to its top edge.

6. A container for merchandise formed from sheet material comprising a pair of integral rear panels hinged together along a substantially vertical score line, each of said rear panels having a forwardly extending upright side panel integral with said each rear panel and extending from the side of each said rear panel remote from said score line, the upper edge of each said side panel sloping. downwardly toward the front of the container over at least a portion of its height, an outer front panel integral with each said side panel, a second side panel integral with each said front panel, a flange integral with each said second side panel secured to the inner. face of its respective rear panel, said score line lying between the flanges on the second side panels, an outer 8 bottom panel, an inner front panel. integral with the outer front panel, and an inner bottom panel integral with the inner front panel and extending upwardly from the inner front panel to the rear panel to form a slanting support for merchandise.

7. A container in accordance with claim 6 having a removable encasement having anouter top panel lying in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the outer bottom panel and having an inner top panel lying in a plane substantially parallelto the inner bottom panel.

8. A container in accordance with claim 6 having means for supporting the inner bottom panel comprising a pai of downwardly extending flaps integral with the respectve side panel edges of the inner bottom panel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,446,581 2/23 Pinkerton 206-4519 2,178,091 10/39 Weiss 206-44 2,269,715 1/42 Fischer 206-4511 2,701,089 7 2/55 Fischer 206-67 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner. 

6. A CONTAINER FOR MECHANDISE FORMED FROM SHEET MATERIAL COMPRISING A PAIR OF INTEGRAL REAR PANELS HINGED TOGETHER ALONG A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL SCORE LINE, EACH OF SAID REAR PANELS HAVING A FORWARDLY EXTENDING UPRIGHT SIDE PANEL INTEGRAL WITH SAID EACH REAR PANEL AND EXTENDING FROM THE SIDE OF EACH OF SAID RAR PANEL REMOTE FROM SAID SCORE LINE, THE UPPER EDGE OF EACH OF SAID SIDE PANEL SLOPING DOWNWARDLY TOWARD THE FRONT OF THE CONTAINER OVER AT LEAST A PORTION OF ITS HEIGHT, AN OUTER FRONT PANEL INTEGRAL WITH EACH SAID SIDE PANEL, A SECOND SIDE PANEL INTEGRAL WITH EACH SAID FRONT PANEL, A FLANGE INTEGRAL WITH EACH SAID SECOND SIDE PANEL SECURED TO THE INNER FACE OF ITS RESPECTIVE REAR PANEL, SAID SCORE LINE LYING BETWEEN THE FLANGES ON THE SECOND SIDE PANELS, AN OUTER BOTTOM PANEL, AN INNER FRONT PANEL INTEGRAL WITH THE OUTER FRONT PANEL, AND AN INNER BOTTOM PANEL INTEGRAL WITH THE INNER FRONT PANEL AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM THE INNER FRONT PANEL TO THE REAR PANEL TO FORM A SLANTING SUPPORT FOR MECHANDISE. 